Symmetrical Skeletons

We had a little wacky fun in math today using our knowledge of symmetry to make some spooky, goofy, fun-loving skeletons!

Playing with Symmetry

Check out our great work with Symmetry!

Slide show

Social Studies Chapter 5

Routes of Exploration to the New World

This week's Social Studies focused on eight European explorers who impacted early exploration. The students who 

do not participate in strings were the "expert" explorer. They each learned the information about one explorer and 

presented that to the class in small groups. The information we focused on was:
What was their prior occupation?
What country sponsored their exploration?
What was their motivation for exploration?
What was their route of exploration?
What was the timeline of their exploration?
What was the impact their discoveries had on the world and the native people in the areas they "discovered"?

Throughout all of our work with these early explorers we will continue to emphasize the fact that there were already people living in the "New World" and that there were explorers from other countries and different parts of the world who were also engaging in exploration at this time or even earlier.

Author's Message

Last week we discussed Author's Message as another strategy to think about text. We read together Thank You Mr. Falker with the focus of "What message does the author want us to take away?". Then began to create our Author's Message chart. Students worked in small groups with a single Polacco text to determine the author's message, then shared out as a group as we filled in our chart. Some books were harder to determine the message of than others. Two questions we used to help guide our thinking was "What lesson does the main character learn in the book?" and "How do the main character's thoughts an ideas change over the course of the book". The ideas in our chart are just some of the big ideas that came about in our discussion and are not inclusive of all possibilities. Students also added an author's message tab to their interactive notebook page with these sentence frames for using in their reading responses:

*I think the author wants us to learn...

*I think the message the author wants us to take away from the book is...

*I think what the author is saying about the world...

*I think one theme of this book is...

Math: Area, Perimeter and Volume

The big emphasis of 5th grade measurement is volume. We began that work this week with a review of area and perimeter. Most students are experienced and confident working with area and perimeter. We then moved on to the concept of volume. We used the example of a packaging factory.  We give the students a situation -  toy figures are packed in individual cubic boxes. These cubes are then packed into larger boxes to be shipped. The students are given the net of a box with an open top, they then construct that box and work to find out how many cubes will fit within that box. We then label that term volume. Throughout our work students are able to determine that we can find volume by multiplying length x width x height. There are several standards that refer to volume. They are:

5.MD.C.3	Recognize volume as an attribute of solid figures and understand concepts of volume measurement.
5.MD.C.3a	A cube with side length 1 unit, called a "unit cube," is said to have "one cubic unit" of volume, and can be used to measure volume.
5.MD.C.3b	A solid figure which can be packed without gaps or overlaps using n unit cubes is said to have a volume of n cubic units.
5.MD.C.4	Measure volumes by counting unit cubes, using cubic cm, cubic in, cubic ft, and improvised units.
5.MD.C.5	Relate volume to the operations of multiplication and addition and solve real world and mathematical problems involving volume.
5.MD.C.5a	Find the volume of a right rectangular prism with whole-number side lengths by packing it with unit cubes, and show that the volume is the same as would be found by multiplying the edge lengths, equivalently by multiplying the height by the area of the base. Represent threefold whole-number products as volumes, e.g., to represent the associative property of multiplication.
5.MD.C.5b	Apply the formulas V = l x w x h and V = b x h for rectangular prisms to find volumes of right rectangular prisms with whole number edge lengths in the context of solving real world and mathematical problems.

Students are completing some practice around volume this week. As an additional challenge some students are working on finding the surface area of rectangular prisms. Next week we will move to thinking about volume as additive and finding the volume of two connected rectangular prisms. 

STEM Building Native American Houses/ Social Studies

In chapter 3 of Social Studies Alive we learned about many Native American tribes in America. Our essential question was: How and why did American Indian cultural regions differ? 
In groups students read and analyzed text and historical artifacts from different American Indian groups and where they lived, and how the tribes used the resources available to survive. We then compared and contrasted life in the various regions. Look for the workbook pages we took notes on to come home today.

We then did a great project where we tried building different kinds of Native American homes using a variety of objects from nature, as well as paper, string, toothpicks, sugar cubes, boxes, etc.  We made a mess but we had a blast! Some groups were more successful than others, but I believe everyone had fun and learned a lot about working in a group and persevering through something difficult. Here are some great shots of their hard work, as well as some examples of the reflections students filled out after.

                                                       The Chickee made by Bobby, Abbey and Julian

The Hogan made by Grant, Sophia and Vincent

The Igloo made by Julia, Josie and Jackie

Longhouse by Isaac, Lily and Seakang

Plank House by Ari, Aaliyah, Rodney and Leela

Pueblo made by Lulu, Kayliegh, Dylan and Caleb

 Tipi made by Chase, June and Gracie

Wigwam made Henry, Ava, Esme, and Frances

Info from the nurse

What Parents/Guardians Need to Know About Head Lice

Lice have not been a bad problem this year at our school, but people always wonder.  The information below from the district gives a good overview of lice and how it’s managed at school.  Please let me know if you have any questions. 

“Nurse Lovell” (Cindy) clovell@madison.k12.wi.us, 204-2301 at Franklin, 204-3305 at Randall

Any time head-to-head contact occurs, head lice can be spread if one of the persons has head lice.

It is easier to manage and resolve head lice if they are found early.

Occasional checks of your child’s hair, even if you are not noticing symptoms are recommended. Remember, never treat a child with a head lice killing product unless it is clear that head lice are present.

Head lice are found all over the world. Head lice is most common among young children and the household members of children with lice. It is estimated that 6 to 12 million children get head lice each year in the United States.

Head lice move by crawling; they cannot hop or fly. Head lice are spread by direct contact with the hair of a person with head lice. Cleanliness of people, home or school has nothing to do with getting head lice.

Because head lice are a common and dreaded nuisance that can cause embarrassment to both children and families, it is important to your school nurse that the privacy of students and families is protected.

What happens if a child is found to have head lice at school?

If a student is found to have live lice, parents/guardians will be notified but the student can stay in school that day. Head lice have likely been present for at least one month by the time they are discovered and the risk of spreading is very low in the school environment if there is no head-to-head contact. The student may return to school the next day if treatment is completed. The school nurse may decide that the student needs to go home before the end of the day if the risk of passing it to others is higher (e.g. high numbers of lice present, likely to have head-head contact, not following treatment recommendations).

The school nurse or nurse assistant will screen close school playmates, locker partners and siblings. If you find head lice on your child at home, please let your school nurse know so that close school playmates and locker partners can be checked. Except for very unusual circumstances, we will NOT send home letters with every student in their class.  We used to do this, but there is no evidence to support that sending letters home prevents lice transmission and may be a violation of privacy and confidentiality. 

What can you do to prevent head lice?

Although nothing can ensure that your child will not be exposed to head lice, there are a few things that may reduce your child’s chances of getting head lice: Your child should:

·         avoid head-to-head (hair-to-hair) contact during play and other activities at home, school, and elsewhere (sports activities, playground, slumber parties, or camp).

·         not share items such as hats, scarves, coats, hair ribbons, combs, brushes, or towels.

For more information:

Head Lice (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) at http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/lice/head/index.html

Head Lice Information for Parents (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) at http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/lice/head/parents.html

Head Lice: What Parents Need to Know (American Academy of Pediatrics) at https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/from-insects-animals/Pages/Signs-of-Lice.aspx

Head Lice (KidsHealth) at http://kidshealth.org/en/parents/head-lice.html

Lo Que los Padres/Tutores Legales Deben Saber Sobre los Piojos de la Cabeza

No hemos tenido gran problema con esto este año, pero es bueno que la gente esté bien informada. La carta del distrito a continuación, da un buen resumen informativo de cómo se maneja esta situación en la escuela. Por favor comuníquese con nosotros si tiene preguntas. 

Enfermera Cindy) clovell@madison.k12.wi.us, 204-2301 en Franklin, 204-3305 en Randall

En cualquier momento que ocurre un contacto de una cabeza con otra, los piojos se pueden transmitir si una de las personas los porta.

Es más fácil tratar y deshacerse de los piojos si se detectan temprano. Se recomienda hacer revisiones ocasionales al cabello de su hijo/a, aunque no note síntomas.

Recuerde, nunca le administre a un niño/o productos para matar piojos a menos que esté seguro que los tenga.

Los piojos se encuentran en todo el mundo. Los piojos se encuentran más comúnmente en niños pequeños y en los miembros del hogar de niños que los portan. Se estima que cada año, de 6 a 12 millones de niños portan piojos en Estados Unidos.

Los piojos se mueven gateando; no pueden brincar o volar. Los piojos son transmitidos mediante el contacto directo con el cabello de una persona que los porta. La limpieza de la gente, su hogar o la escuela no tienen nada que ver con la transmisión de los piojos.

Ya que los piojos son una molestia común y temida que puede causar vergüenza a los niños y a sus familias, es importante para su enfermera de la escuela que la privacidad de los estudiantes y sus familias sea protegida.

¿Qué pasa si se le encuentran piojos en la cabeza a un niño/a en la escuela?

Si se descubre que un/a estudiante tiene piojos, informaremos a los padres pero el/la estudiante podrá permanecer en la escuela por el resto de ese día. Es probable que los piojos puedan haber estado presentes por al menos un mes hasta el momento que se les haya descubierto, y el riesgo de propagación es muy bajo en el entorno escolar si no hay contacto de una cabeza con otra.  El estudiante puede regresar al día siguiente si ha completado su tratamiento. La enfermera de la escuela puede decidir si el estudiante necesita ir a casa antes del final del día si el riesgo de transmisión es más alto (ej.: alta cantidad de piojos está presente, contacto probable de una cabeza con otra, no haber seguido las recomendaciones de tratamiento).

La enfermera de la escuela o la asistente de enfermera evaluarán a compañeritos de la escuela que son allegados, compañeros de casillero y hermanos.  Si encuentra piojos en la cabeza de su hijo en casa, por favor infórmele a la enfermera de la escuela para poder hacerle una revisión tanto a los allegados del niño como a sus compañeros de casillero en la escuela.

¿Qué puede hacer usted para prevenir los ojos de la cabeza?

Aunque nada puede asegurar que su hijo no sea expuesto a los piojos, hay algunas cosas que pueden reducir las posibilidades de contraerlos. Su hijo/a debe:

·         Evitar hacer contacto con su cabeza con la de otro niño mientras juega  y durante otras actividades en el hogar, escuela y en otros lugares (actividades deportivas, en el patio de recreo, fiestas de pijamas, o cuando anda acampando).

·         No compartir cosas como sombreros, bufandas, abrigos, cintas para el pelo, peines, cepillos o toallas.

Para más información:

Piojos de la cabeza (Centros para el Control y la Prevención de las Enfermedades): http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/lice/head/index.html

Información para padres sobre los piojos de la cabeza (Centros para el Control y la Prevención de las Enfermedades): http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/lice/head/parents.html

Piojos: Lo Que Los Padres Necesitan Saber (Academia Americana de Pediatría) :https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/from-insects-animals/Pages/Signs-of-Lice.aspx

Piojos de la cabeza (KidsHealth) at http://kidshealth.org/en/parents/head-lice.html

Said is Dead...:(

In Writing we have talked about how to improve our writing through revision. Two ways we can improve our stories is through dialogue and by adding more detail. We killed two birds with one stone today by having our annual "Said is Dead" battle. Students worked in table groups to find as my words as they could to replace the word said in a story. Using these great new words will help improve our stories immensely! 

More OoO...

Today we read about Order of Operations, made an anchor chart, and put notes in our notebook to reference when needed.

Order of Operations Begins...

Today we spent some time painting in math class! :) 

We are working on Order of Operations.  Today we looked at and built models that represent equations.  Here are some examples: